Narrated Al-Bara’ bin ‘Azib: A man recited Surat-al-kahf (in his prayer) and in the house there was a (riding) animal which got frightened and started jumping. The man finished his prayer with Taslim, but behold! A mist or a cloud hovered over him. He informed the Prophet of that and the Prophet said, “O so-and-so! Recite, for this (mist or cloud) was a sign of peace descending for the recitation of Quran.” (Book #56, Hadith #811)

Al-Bukhari recorded that Usayd bin Hudayr said that he was once reciting Surat Al-Baqarah while his horse was tied next to him. The horse started to make some noise. When Usayd stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving about. When he resumed reading, the horse started moving about again. When he stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving, and when he resumed reading, the horse started to move again. Meanwhile, his son Yahya was close to the horse, and he feared that the horse might step on him. When he moved his son back, he looked up to the sky and saw a cloud radiating with light that looked like lamps. In the morning, he went to the Prophet and told him what had happened and then said, “O Messenger of Allah! My son Yahya was close to the horse and I feared that she might step on him. When I attended to him and raised my head to the sky, I saw a cloud with lights like lamps. So I went, but I couldn’t see it.” The Prophet said, “Do you know what that was” He said, “No.” The Prophet said,

(They were the angels, they came close hearing your voice (reciting Surat Al-Baqarah), and if you had kept reading, the people would have been able to see the angels when the morning came, and the angels would not be hidden from their eyes.)

ii. They convey the salams of the ummah to Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam

From Ibn Mas’ud, the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: ‘Allah has angels who travel about the earth; they convey to me the peace greeting from my ummah. Declared sahih by Albani

This hadith teaches us that

i. we should make lots of salawat toour prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam and it will be conveyed to him Insya Allah

ii. We do not need to ask people to send salam to the prophet when they visit the prophet sallalhu alaihi waslam grave, because the angels are our messengers who will pass the salam to us whenever we make salawat.

iii. They protect and support righteous people, and relieve their distress

Allah may send angels to protect some of His righteous slaves other than the Prophets and Messengers.

This story is in Ibn Kathir in a commentary of the ayah 27: 62

Is not He (better than your gods) who responds to distressed one, when he calls on Him, and He removes the evil (Qur’an 27:62)

– He said:Al-Haafiz ibn ‘Asaakir mentioned the story of a man of whom Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Dawood ad-Daynoori, who was known as Ad-Daqqi as-Soofi. This man said:

I used to transport people and their goods with a mule that belonged to me, from Damascus to Balad az-Zabadaani. One day a man rode with me, and for part of the way we were traveling off the beaten track. He said to me, “Take this path, it is shorter”, I said, “That’s no good. “He said “But it is shorter”

So we took the path, and it reached a place where it was very difficult to go, and there was deep valley in which there were many dead bodies. He said, “Hold the mule’s head, so I can dismount.” So he dismounted, then he rolled up his sleeves and gathered his garments. Then he pulled out a knife and came towards me. I ran away from him and he followed me. I implored him by Allah, and said, “Take the mule and all the baggage on it. He said they are mine anyway but I am going to kill you. I tried to scare him by reminding him of Allah and the punishment, but he paid no heed to that.”

So I surrendered to him, and said “let me pray two rakah” He said hurry up then. So I stood up to pray , but the words of the Qur’an would not come to me. I could not remember even a single letter. I remained standing, confused and he was saying “Come on! get on with it” Then Allah enabled me to recite this Ayah

Is not He (better than your gods) who responds to distressed one, when he calls on Him, and He removes the evil (Qur’an 27:62)

Suddenly I saw a horseman who had come from the mouth of the valley with a spear on his hand. He threw the spear at the man, and it did not miss his heart. The man fell dead, and I clung to the horseman and said, “By Allah, who are you” He said “I am a messenger of the One who responds to the distressed one when he calls on Him, and Who removes the evil” Then I took the mule and the baggage and I returned safe and sound.

Similarly, Allah sent Jibreel to help the mother of Ismaa’eel in Makkah.

In Saheeh al-Bukhaari it is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas from the Prophet (Peace be upon him), in the story of Ibraaheem’s migration with Ismaa’eel and his mother Haajir to the land of Makkah – which is a long story – that the mother of Ismaa’eel ran like a distressed person between As-Safa’ and Al-Marwah seven times, looking for water.

“When she looked out from Al-Marwah, she heard a voice, and she kept quiet and listened attentively. She heard the voice again and said,

“O (whoever you may be)! You have made me hear your voice; have you got something to help me?”

And she saw an angel at the place of Zamzam, digging the earth with his heel (or his wing), till water flowed from that place…

The angel said to her,

‘Don’t be afraid of being neglected, for this is the House of Allah which will be built by this boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.’”

(Bukhaari, 6/397, hadith no. 3364)

This angel who came to her was Jibreel. In Al-Musnad it is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that Ubayy ibn Ka’b said:

“When Jibreel dug Zamzam with his heel, the mother of Ismaa’eel started to scoop up the earth around it.

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

‘May Allah have mercy on Ismaa’eel’s mother! Had she left Zamzam alone (flowing without trying to control it), Zamzam would have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth.’”

(Musnad Ahmad, 5/121)

Allah knows best how He sends help to the rest of us when we are in distress. Tawakkal to Allah that He doesn’t leave one in distress for He knows what is best for you.

iv. The angels attend the funerals of the righteous

Ibn Umar [ra] narrated that the messenger of Allah, [pbuh] said concerning the death of Sa’ad ibn Mu’adh: “This is a righteous servant for whom the Throne shook and for whom the gates of heavens were thrown open and whose funeral was witnessed by 70,000 angels who had never descended to the earth until that day. He was squeezed (in his grave once), then he was released”(Muslim)